SHANGHAI: Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies became China’s most valuable listed company on Monday after its shares surged more than 500 per cent in their Shanghai stock market debut, following Asia’s largest initial public offering (IPO) of the year.
The company’s shares jumped to 54.65 yuan from their IPO price of 8.66 yuan, lifting its market capitalisation to about 3.65 trillion yuan (US$539 billion).
The rally pushed ChangXin Memory ahead of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), previously the country’s largest listed company by market value.
The company, also known as CXMT, raised 57.92 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion) in the mainland’s biggest-ever semiconductor IPO, underlining strong investor confidence in China’s expanding chip industry.
The strong debut comes as Beijing accelerates efforts to strengthen its domestic semiconductor sector amid US export restrictions and growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
Trading in ChangXin Memory shares exceeded 122 billion yuan during the morning session, making it the first A-share company to record more than 100 billion yuan in daily turnover, according to local media reports.
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Despite the sharp gains, some investors warned the company’s valuation could be difficult to sustain. Analysts said the limited number of freely tradable shares may contribute to significant price swings in the near term.
ChangXin Memory expects first-half revenue to rise more than sevenfold to between 110 billion yuan and 120 billion yuan. It also forecast a return to profit, with net earnings of up to 75 billion yuan after posting a loss in the same period last year.
Analysts said continued AI-driven demand and tight global memory chip supplies could support the company’s long-term growth.
